This, I Promise
by Unoriginality
Summary: After deciding where to go to find Gourry a new sword, Lina and Gourry both end up being given a very special gift that came with very special vows. (Part of the This, I Will Do series)


It'd been weeks since the Sword of Light had disappeared off to another one of the five worlds, its land of creation and, as much as Lina hated to admit it, where it originally belonged. Both she and Gourry agreed that it was better off in his hands, but he'd insisted that it'd do more good with the outworlders.

Stupid man just had to be noble and such. That sword had saved their lives so many times, it was unbelievable, and now what was Gourry supposed to fight the evil tribe with? Every sword they bought, he'd break before Lina could even come up with a spell to try to make it able to cut through the astral realm. He was just too strong and rough on swords for a regular sword to make do.

"What about the Blessed Sword from Sairaag?" Lina suggested, poking at the fire, starting one of their millions of discussions on what to do about the situation.

"Is that even still there?" Gourry asked. "That was the thing we took out that other guy's clone, right? When we had all the tiny us-es?"

Lina wasn't exactly surprised by his memory being slightly better than anyone else saw. It still wasn't the greatest, and he tried, bless him, but when others were around, he played it up to seem more harmless. Zelgadis and Amelia know better than to underestimate him, and Xellos... well, it was hard to tell with that particular member of the evil tribe. He wasn't easily fooled, but unless he spied on Lina and Gourry full time (in which case she'd kill him so he could never utter anything that'd embarrass her) he might actually not realize that Gourry wasn't as stupid as he pretended to be.

He did seem to blow Gourry off as a threat only as the holder of the sword of light and Lina's aggressively protective bodyguard. But with Xellos, appearances were deceiving.

But enough of that annoying purple-headed priest. Gourry had asked her a question, and a very good one.

"We could try to get ahold of Sylphiel," she suggested starting to draw magic circles in the dirt in front of her.

Gourry was silent until she looked up at him and saw the look of incredulity on his face. "I know you're friends with her, but you don't seem to like her being around me."

Lina scowled, throwing the stick she was doodling with into the fire. "Naw, not anymore," she said. "I've heard rumors that she's been with Prince Phil a lot. They'd get along, and it'd be weird, but it'd give Amelia more family to love. I'd be happy for them." Then she gave Gourry a dirty look. "And I'm not jealous. I know better. I just don't like it when she gets grabby with you."

"Which is jealousy."

"Is not," Lina argued. "I just don't like that I can't say something, because we're pretending."

Gourry sat back, his arms propping him up like he was leaning back in a comfortable chair. "And whose idea was that?"

"Both of ours," Lina snapped. "Don't act like I'm alone in this, jellyfish for brains."

Gourry grinned. "You say such sweet nothings, Lina.,"

"You frustrate me into them," She said, wishing she hadn't tossed that stick into the fire. "But okay, maybe the Blessed Blade is out. Your turn."

Gourry leaned forward, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his palm, elbow on his thigh. "Well, I know she scares you, but what about your sister?"

Lina recoiled. "Wh- what about my sister?" she demanded, completely willing to admit to the fear the very thought of returning to Zefielia caused. "She's not a sword."

"No, but she's the Knight of Ceiphied," Gourry pointed out. "Maybe she'd have an idea of where a good sword would be. Or maybe how to make a regular one not break on me."

She stared at him, her face scrunched up into an angry pout. He had a point. A very good point. Of any person in this world who'd know of a sword or how to make an acceptable sword, it'd be her sister. And maybe her sister would let her come home temporarily to ask about it after she obeyed the order to 'shut up and do it' when Filia approached her about saving the world. That was a bargaining chip to keep her skin attached to her body, right?

Then there was her parents. Mom would be annoyed that she'd be bringing a man home with no grandbabies in sight, and her dad would be out of his mind with wanting to bond with his 'future son-in-law', because to them, it was inconceivable that Lina might just be traveling with a male friend.

Which was her own fault, given how much she played up her virgin virtue. Coming home with Gourry in tow would probably make it hard to keep up that appearance.

On the other hand, her virginal virtue had kinda been left behind about the time they parted from the others after Martina and Zangulus's wedding. They were still careful about who knew and when it was safe to share a bed, but her parents weren't going to be as easily fooled as Amelia and Zel were. Martina'd probably see right through them.

Yet another reason to never go visiting her. She didn't need the gossip mill spinning.

"Lina?"

Her fear of her sister and the headache her parents posed aside, she just couldn't argue it. Gourry needed a good sword too much.

And maybe it was about time she took him to meet her family anyway.

"Fine," she said, wrapping her arms around herself and drawing her knees to her chest. "But I'm hiding behind you when my sister sees us. You can play the good bodyguard for once and save me from certain death."

Gourry's eyebrows raised. "You really are terrified of her. What'd you do to piss her off?"

She squinted at him. "What makes you think it was my fault?"

"It always is."

Lina grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at him for lack of anything else in reach to use. "Jellyfish."

He laughed, pretending that any of that dirt actually made it across the fire to hit him, turning slightly with a hand up to shield his eyes from all that dirt that just got lost to the flames of their campfire. "You didn't answer the question."

When Gourry decided he wanted to know about something, he was like a dog with a bone, so she may as well 'fess up, she decided. "Things were tough for us, growing up," she said. "Luna had to take a part time job as a waitress. I uh. Decided to help out. Luna didn't like my idea of helping out."

"Which was?"

"Projecting images of her bathing."

Gourry put his hands over his eyes, "No wonder her letter was so testy," he grumbled. "So are we even safe going back there to ask?"

Lina waffled about that a bit. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I mean, when I ran instead of facing the music, she was still pretty mad. But I know she'd never hate me, so I'm pretty sure she'd help." She scowled. "Especially if she knew about us." She muttered a few obscenities under her breath. "Not that Mom and Dad won't make assumptions anyway." She sighed. "You know that going to my home means that we may lose our claim to secrecy, right?"

Gourry shrugged. "I know. But if even you won't mess with your sister, I can't see anyone who'd mess with her or us getting told, either. I mean, if your family respects you, they'd keep quiet if we asked, wouldn't they?"

Lina wasn't sure which was better- when Gourry acted ten times dumber than he was, or when he wasn't acting and was annoyingly right about a lot of things. Usually things related to her. Guess that was what happened when two people spend three years in constant company with each other.

Lina rocked back and forth a bit, then shook her head with a faint smile. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. It'd make her parents happy, and maybe her mom would have an idea to their problem that led them to keep things on the low down. Lina's paranoid nature hadn't let her find anything herself.

"All right," she finally said. Then she looked up at Gourry through her lashes, grateful that the heat of the fire probably already had her face red enough to match her hair. "You realize they may try to send us off with inheriting their wedding rights, right?"

Gourry looked thoughtful, and Lina flushed harder, butterflies doing an aerial dance in her stomach. Oh, please don't say no to that. As far as Lina was concerned, that'd put a big rift in their relationship. She'd understand if he wasn't ready- she wasn't entirely sure she was ready herself -but turning down what was essentially marriage after already vowing to stick to her side like glue just felt awkward. If anyone knew they'd been together under their noses all this time, and Gourry had turned her down, she knew Gourry would be getting a lot of grief.

And she made no promises for what Luna might do to him before they left.

For the sake of sanity, Gourry, say yes.

After a few more seconds, Gourry shrugged, grinning widely over the fire at her. "I guess it wouldn't be too bad. Just as long as you don't try to pawn them or something."

Lina flung another pile of dirt at him. "Jellyfish for brains," she grumbled. "Like I'd pawn the most sentimental inheritance I have from my family." Or her own wedding ring, if her parents pulled what she suspected they'd pull. "I can't believe you'd actually think that of me."

Gourry laughed. "I don't," he said. "But that look was worth it."

Another pile of dirt made its way across the flames. "Jerk." She took off her shoulder pads and cape. "Get over here, it's cold out and that fire's gonna die before we wake up." They were far off the beaten path, giving them a bit more privacy, privacy she intended on taking advantage of.

"You're the boss, Lina," he said with absolutely no protest.

The night wasn't so cold that night.

The morning was chilly, but back in her clothes and under her warm cape with Gourry's body heat at her back, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. She yawned, then glanced back over her shoulder to see if Gourry was awake yet or not.

He didn't seem to be, and the temptation to just snuggle back against him and go back to sleep while longer was tempting, but she was hungry, first and foremost, and also important was a need to get some time to herself that didn't involve just squatting behind a tree. Last night it'd been said, but actually thinking about the implications of the two of them accepting her parents' rings, if they were offered, was something she needed to process on her own. And knowing Gourry, he probably could do with a few minutes for himself, too.

So, with great care, she untangled herself from his embrace and the mess of her cape and got up to stretch.

"Mph." Gourry opened his eyes, sleep crusting them half shut. "Where're you goin'?"

"Fish," Lina said. "I hear a stream. Besides, I wanna clean up."

Gourry grunted. "I'm tired of fish, Lina," he whined sounding half _her_ age, much less his own.

Knowing that 'tired of fish' while in wooded areas meant 'I want to trap a rabbit', Lina waved him off. "Fine, go set up those snares of yours," she said. "I still wanna go clean up."

He peered up at her, and she recognized the flirty look on his face. "If you wait, I can set up the snares and get cleaned up too."

She couldn't begin to say how tempting that was. They so rarely had so much time with this level of privacy, it really wasn't easy to not take advantage of it.

But she still needed a few minutes.

"If you can set those snares fast enough, sure," she said, knowing that at least that much would give her time. "But if you aren't quick, you're just outta luck."

"Tease."

"All part of my virtue," she said with a bright smile.

"Hmph. Some virtue you showed last night."

She nudged him with her foot, kicking him partway out from under her cape. "Go set up those snares. I'm going to go clean up before breakfast is ready."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, setting aside the rest of the cape with a stretch and a yawn to make Lina jealous.

While he dug into his pack to get his knife to set up those snares, Lina wandered off in the direction that stream she was hearing.

It took awhile, far longer than she figured it would, which would give Gourry too much chance to catch up and ruin her thinking time with things that made her distinctly unable to think much. But she found it. It wasn't big, not in width anyway, but the bank was high, and the water looked deep. Good, a good submersing instead of just washing herself with a wet piece of clothing was what she wanted.

She stripped, leaving her clothes as low on the bank as she could, in case she had to dress in haste, then slipped down into the stream. It was frigid, and since it was moving water, her spells wouldn't do much to fix that, so she suffered through it, ducking down into the water up to her chin. It wouldn't do much to hide her, and she was absolutely dead certain that if Gourry joined her before she got dressed, he would, aside from seducing her, start off by making a remark about what cold water did to certain parts of her anatomy.

She'd have to toss a fireball past his head for that. As a warning shot. Maybe it'd warm some of the water coming her way.

Keeping to the bank, Lina began washing her hair, ducking down enough to get the water over her scalp, scrubbing the dried sweat from the night before away.

Marriage.

Oh boy, was that a loaded word. She'd wanted it some day, always had, but it was actually potentially staring her in the face now, and she really wasn't opposed to it. Her lifestyle made keeping a ring on her finger impractical, but it could be worn on a chain under her shirt. Same with Gourry, since wielding a sword with a ring on your finger wasn't the most comfortable. If things were agreed upon like they might be, she'd suggest that to him. Better than risking losing those rings.

But there was the chance her parents wouldn't push the issue beyond some completely in-character protests in favor of it. Especially if she asked it be left alone.

She wasn't sure she wanted it to be left alone. And Gourry hadn't seemed against it, although she realized his agreement wasn't as enthusiastic as she wanted to such a proposal. Which is exactly what that had been- a proposal.

"Oi, Lina!"

Speak of the devil, and his voice appears from somewhere in the direction of camp. "Where'd you go?"

"To clean up, you twit!" she called back. "The bank's high, watch your footing."

He appeared over the top of the bank after a few heartbeats, and without a single lewd word or look, carefully clambered down to join her. She rested her arms on the ground at the edge of the water, pressed against it and not giving a show. She knew damn well that unless he turned out to not be in the mood, those snares weren't going to get checked that quickly, and she didn't mind.

But she wished she'd had a bit more thinking time. Although at that point, further thinking required further questioning of Gourry, and watching him strip took her mind to something far more immediately important than talking him into confused circles.

"Did you build the fire back up?" she asked as he slipped into the water beside her.

"Not yet," he said, wrapping his arms around himself. "Brr, this water's cold."

"Welcome to my anguish," she said. "It's running water, I can't warm it up, before you even ask."

"Well, okay, I was going to ask, but yeah, that warm water would go right past us."

She shook her head, stepping over to try to share what body heat the water was letting her have to warm him up a bit. "It would. Turn around, I'll get your hair for you."

Cleaning his hair was not the only thing she did to him, but the cold water discouraged further play, and they shivered their way into their clothing as fast as they could and headed back for their campsite. Lina brought the fire back to life while Gourry went around to those snares. Her stomach hoped he caught a lot, or else she was going back to that stream for fish.

What he caught was sufficient, but nowhere near what she preferred, but as long as she didn't use up a lot of energy on spells between there and the nearest restaurant, it'd do.

Her stomach was much happier when they found a town that evening, a town big enough to have an inn with a big kitchen. Good. Much better. She still had to talk to Gourry, and after checking in for two rooms (just in case they ran into someone they knew) they settled down at a table and started ordering the entirety of the menu, between the two of them. Double portions of everything.

The only time one could argue there was severe discord in their relationship was when there was food and they were as busy stealing from each other as they were with their own food. Food was serious business for them, nothing to laugh at, nothing to be playful about, a battle of life and death to make their stomachs happy.

Food was very serious business for them.

Lina tried to yank a fish away from Gourry, one end clenched between her teeth and the other between his. "Gimme!" she demanded without letting loose her grip.

"No!" His teeth didn't loosen to let her win that one either. He grabbed hsi fork and stabbed at the end near her mouth, tearing the meat loose until she was left with just what was in her mouth and he swallowed the rest of the fish triumphantly.

She stole his last meatball for that.

They relaxed back with drinks after their plates were carried away by a pair of horrified waitresses - oh what, had they never seen how much a sorceress has to eat with her heightened metabolism? Why did they always act like that?

Drinks were accompanied by a game of cards, which Gourry actually won as much as he lost. Lina was luckier (and may or may not cheat on rare occasion), but Gourry was observant, and people all too easily underestimated just how much mental talent went into controlling a sword the way Gourry did. Even Zel seemed to let that one slip by him. Gourry's facade of being stupider than a pile of bricks was a convincing one.

He was still stupid, just not as stupid as he pretended to be.

After a few rounds that left them both with an equal number of wins and losses, bedtime was declared and they both tromped up the stairs to their respective rooms.

They both really wished they could just share one room openly, but for now, they had their reasons.

So into her own room Lina went, changing into her nightgown. She turned the knob on her oil lamp next to her bed low, letting in just a bit of light. They had an arrangement, when things seemed safe, that they'd both keep their lights low so they could easier watch for lights turning out in the hallways and other rooms around them before one or the other of them slipped over to the other's room.

It made her feel like a thief, stealing that precious time, and so many times she wished she could just openly go to his room so they could have a night of just holding each other in sleep without feeling pressure to take as much advantage of the privacy as possible. A hidden relationship between an eighteen year old woman and a twenty-five year old man led towards lots of love play when privacy was allowed.

But tonight, Gourry had to answer a couple of very important questions before she'd let anything happen.

Like a better answer to a proposal. That'd be just spiffy.

Once the hallway was dark beyond a tiny glow next door, Lina smothered her light, giving Gourry the sign that she was coming over to his room. Her door opened without a sound as she peeked out down both sides of the hall, and towards the stairs that led to the downstairs.

The place was dark, everyone gone to bed. Everyone but Gourry, his room next to hers with a faint light glowing under the door crack.

Shutting the door as silent as a shadow, Lina left her room completely and slipped into Gourry's room, the door opened and shut just as quiet as her own.

Gourry was relaxed back on his bed in his ridiculous green pajamas with the jellyfish floating around on them.

Hopeless. She blamed herself for his weird affection for jellyfish.

She hadn't done more than close the door before he tilted his head, giving her a scrutinizing look. "You have something on your mind," he said in a hushed voice.

"Mm." She took in a deep breath, desperate to calm her nerves, then walked over to the bed. He scooted over to give her room, but she turned it down, choosing to climb over him until she was straddling his hips, her torso pinning him down to the bed. She laid her chin on her hands, face inches from his.

Gourry moved his head to examine the length of her body on top of his, then back to look her in the eye. "Okay, so you have more than one something on your mind."

She made that noncommital noise again, then turned her head to lay her cheek down on her hands, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of him, listening to his breaths, listening to his heartbeat under her hands. She wished she could stay like that, wished she could do more to raise that steady heartbeat to something far more unsteady, but this conversation had to happen first.

Gourry was patient with her, leaving her be except to wrap his arms around her and hold her tightly. Smart Gourry. Keep your mouth shut, Gourry. "What's wrong?"

Or not.

She lifted her head, steeling her nerves and banishing the butterflies in her stomach. "You remember what I said last night, about my parents' wedding rings?"

Gourry didn't even pretend to not remember. The conversation was too serious for his games. "Yeah."

Well, he remembered, but either he was being really stupid and playing games, or he was being actually stupid and not following her line of thought. He usually could, but he didn't seem to be this time, or if he did, he was letting her control the conversation.

For once, she wished he'd speak up first. It'd make that desert in her mouth not so dry. "You realize that was a proposal, right? And your answer was lacking in enthusiasm."

His smile at that was warm, like a sunbeam and she was a cat, ready to curl up under its warmth and never leave. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't sure how serious you were. We've never talked about it before."

Butterflies, please go away. "So that's a yes?"

He lifted his head to press his cheek to hers. "You know it is," he whispered against her ear.

The butterflies lifted up into her heart and took it soaring into the sky and she had turned her head to catch those wonderful lips of his into a deep kiss before she could even think to speak.

She left his room almost too late in the morning to be stealthy, and she really didn't care that morning.

Zefielia was quite a ways away from where they'd been along the lower border of the inner world, and they had plenty of time to play honeymooners. At least, they made more time by going out of their way to, the sudden change in their relationship making privacy a more immediate desire than their respective libidos and need for closeness had before. At this point, even if her parents didn't give them wedding rings, she and Gourry were officially engaged, and that had made everything brighter and shinier.

It was even more fun to rob bandits of their ill-gotten goods. Lina didn't think anything could make that more fun. But life as an engaged woman somehow did. She wondered how much of a bounce being married would put into her step.

When they got about another fifty miles or so from Zefielia's border, they checked into an inn and sat in Lina's room, counting out what they had earned from the last group they'd encountered, about a day down the road. So much to sell for good coin that'd buy food and nights at inns, and it'd just been rattling around in her cape's pockets for a full twenty-four hours.

"This group had a lot," Gourry remarked, holding up what looked like a ruby. "Hey, Lina, is this a good one, or do you need it for a spell?"

"Lemme see." Lina held her hand out for the ruby and examined it closely. Gourry was good at telling good jewels from bad, but Lina had a specific standard that he didn't always understand, so when he encountered the smaller gems, he deferred them to her judgment.

Smart Gourry.

"Hm. Well, I could sell it pretty easily," she said, running a thumb over its smooth surface. "It's got a good shape. But I think I could make more if I turn it into a talisman. It'd bring in more with its size."

"You know best," he said, then went about separating out the gemstones for her to work with and the more average treasure for him to sort. "I just hope we don't find another silly statue," he grumbled.

She smiled, glad to hear him remembering that without prompting, but didn't look up from her own work. "If we do, we're keeping it until we can throw it at my sister or my parents. They used to be adventurers. Met each other on the road."

"Kinda like us."

"Mmhm." Lina picked up a gem holding it up to the oil lamp's light. She didn't see any imperfections in that one. Into the 'sell as-is' pile that one went. "I doubt they're out of practice at playing the adventurer. Might give them something more to do than struggle to make ends meet." She paused in spreading out the tiny gems, letting that thought sink in. "You know, some of this we should give to them," she said. "Set aside the really good stuff. Even if they don't give us my inheritance yet, I'd like to help out. In a way that's not gonna get me killed this time."

Gourry looked over at her from examining some older-looking coins. "Won't this stuff just attract more attention to them?"

She shook her head. "Not if we trade them in for regular coins," she said. "Then they'd just have money." Then she smiled. "And maybe they'll decide to come out of retirement and hit the road again. Both my sister and I are grown up and making our own way, as far as I know. I don't think they're to old to do a bit of adventuring. They could give the house to Luna." She sat back. "You know, I think that might actually make them happy." She looked at Gourry. "Going back home might be a better idea than we thought."

"A sword for me, maybe, wedding rings maybe, and your parents getting to go have fun," Gourry said, listing off with a look of concentration what all was to be gained by going to her home. He thought another moment, then nodded once to himself and smiled at her. "I knew getting to meet your family eventually would be worth poking you about."

Lina shook her head to hide her amused smile, going back to the gems. "You only convinced me when it came to your silly sword problem," she said. "Everything else was an added bonus."

He leaned down, into her line of sight. "Marriage is just an added bonus?"

She flushed, trying but failing to not lock eyes with him. "Well, no, not on its own, but we wouldn't have thought of it just yet if not for your idea. That makes it an added bonus."

Gourry didn't bother to hide his exasperated grin, sitting back up to get back to work. "Becoming a Gabriev is an added bonus."

She stopped and gave him an offended look. "Whaddya mean, becoming a 'Gabriev'? You're becoming an 'Inverse'! My family has a history of courageous deeds!"

"So's my family!" Gourry protested.

Lina couldn't deny that. She pouted, trying to find a solution that would make her come out on top but not insult Gourry's own legacy that he'd been living up to beautifully, in her opinion. "Well... when we go public, we'll hyphenate our names, how about that?"

Now Gourry really did look lost. She was sure he knew what she meant, but at his confused 'hyphenate?' she had a feeling it was the word that was throwing him off.

"Yeah, like, I'd be Lina Inverse-Gabriev and you'd be Gourry Inverse-Gabriev. We'd share our names."

"Oh!" Yup, it was the word. "Yeah, I've seen couples that do that." He paused to look down at the gold coins, probably lost track of how many he was counting, then he looked back up at her. "So when are we going to do that?

She felt her heart sink. "When we can," she said. "You know why we can't."

Gourry didn't look like he liked it much. "I know." He didn't sound like he liked it much either. "I just wish we didn't have to sneak around anymore."

Lina sighed, leaning across the pile of treasure to put her hand under his chin and made him look up at her. "I know. I don't like it either. I'll talk to Mom when we get home. She probably had some of the same problem with Dad. She might know the best way to fix this." She dropped her hand. "You're not the only one that doesn't like having to hide." Then she frowned. "Although I gotta admit, avoiding Amelia and Prince Phil's enthusiasm about it is a benefit. I love Amelia dearly, but she goes overboard."

Gourry rolled his eyes. "Because you just hate being the center of attention. You know those two would demand we get a royal wedding, right? Pretty dresses, big castle, all the food we could eat, the royal treatment all the way. You wouldn't like that?"

That... had not actually occurred to her. She rested her elbows on her knees, face propped in her hands. "Hm. I like that idea, actually." She grinned. "Lemme talk to Mom, first. Or Dad, maybe, he's the one that was carrying the Inverse name before her. If we get good ideas, we'll head to Seyruun and talk to Amelia." She sat up. "Okay, you've convinced me. If my parents can help us, we're getting the royal treatment. We're heroes there, after all!"

"After dropping a big chunk of land onto the city, we still qualify?"

Damn. He just had to remember that before her. That was just pathetic. "Well, okay, I'm sure we've been forgiven. And Phil and Amelia wouldn't let us get away without a big wedding anyway."

Gourry gave her the biggest shit-eating grin he had in awhile. "You're not wearing a white dress, are you? You wouldn't fit in one anymore."

"My bust can fill out one just fine," she snapped, then held up a card to make a talisman with and waved it at him. "And nobody gets to know the white isn't appropriate anyway."

That made Gourry laugh. "Lina, I wasn't talking about your breasts. I like them. I think you'd look nice in a dress like that. But you're the one that tries to hide behind maidenly virtue when you lost that one about a year ago."

She lowered the card. "Has it actually been that long?"

Gourry sat back, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, I lost track of time a little when when we were doing that whole prophecy thing, but I think so. Maybe a little longer? I dunno. It's been awhile."

Lina tapped the card against her lips, thinking. "Let me think. It was after we left everyone's company after Marina wedding that we talked about anything." She flushed. "I guess we didn't really wait very long after that, did we?"

"Nope." He smiled. "And you're still cute when you blush."

She fought back the urge to flush even more by letting her ego take control. She floofed her hair. "Why of course I am! I'm always cute."

"Usually," Gourry said, a dangerous word to combine with a dangerous roll of his eyes.

"Usually?" She gave him a dirty look.

"Usually," Gourry answered as if oblivious to how much she wanted to roast certain parts of him, even if she did benefit from them. "Sometimes you're kinda scary." He wilted when he noticed the look on her face. "Kinda like now. Please don't throw a fireball at me, you'll burn our inn down around our ears."

She gave him a look of death, but he made a point, and he was sufficiently apologetic that she once again cared about those parts she almost roasted and decided a moment of temper wasn't worth losing that kind of intimacy with him.

"Fine, you get to live this time, but next time I'd better hear an apology with that."

"If I apologize now, do I get to stay in here tonight?"

"Maybe."

"Then I'm sorry."

"Good. Now get back to work."

Her hometown was near the smack middle of the map of Zelfielia, so it was a couple more days' travel, and as both of their nerves got strung tighter as they approached her home, moments of privacy became more used for comforting snuggles rather than the product of hormones. She needed his strength and calm more than orgasms and love making.

She was certain her parents would welcome her home. Luna might be a problem. She had a bargaining tool, at least, but there might be an initial unsisterly reunion.

But more than that was if any of them would approve of Gourry. He was strong and handsome, sure, and she didn't think anyone could be more loyal than him, and they'd admire that. That wasn't in question. But her family was full of geniuses, and while Gourry had his own areas of genius, he wasn't exactly an all around type.

If a single one of them - even Luna -said anything against his intelligence or memory, she was going to go postal on them and then walk away for good. She wasn't going to let them insult the man she loved just for a few shortcomings. It wasn't like she didn't have a few they pretty much accepted.

(Nonsense. She was perfect in every way.)

As they neared her hometown, her footsteps slowed to almost a crawl, and with the buildings in sight she stopped all together and put a hand on her stomach.

Gourry stopped next to her. "What's the matter, Lina?"

"Just nerves," she said, trying to blow it off. She took in a breath, squared her shoulders and started all but marching into the city, navigating the streets from memory. Although many things looked very different than she remembered. She'd only been gone six years, what happened to all her favorite old restaurants and shops?

"Who should we look for first?" Gourry asked, taking in the sights without the twinge of confused nostalgia she was feeling.

Lina debated that question. "Well," she said, pausing to look around the busy streets. "A lot of restaurants have changed, so Luna might not be working at the same place anymore. We'll find my parents, first. They live on the northern outskirts of town."

"So we cut through downtown?" Gourry's nose was twitching, and she didn't blame him. Even though most of the places she remembered had been replaced by new businesses, they still smelled yummy and her stomach was growling at her.

"Yeah." She felt herself start to drift towards an all-you-can-eat country cooking restaurant despite herself, until she stopped and stared a sign. "What the hell? I wasn't even _here_ when this place opened!" The sign on the door said "all you can eat" and under it, "(except the Inverses)"

"I think they know your name around here, Lina," Gourry said, staring at that sign forlornly.

Lina sighed. "Well, I _was_ gonna say let's eat in town instead of imposing on my parents, but if that's how this town is gonna be, we'll just go hope Mom and Dad still eat like proper Inverses and have plenty of food around the house for us."

Gourry hurried to catch up as she walked away, or rather, stormed away. Stupid town. Some welcome for a hero native who'd saved the world more times than she cared to count, although if it'd get her some food, she'd start counting pretty damn fast.

"So your parents eat like you, too?"

She tried for a proud smile, but the signs on restaurants as they passed that all said "No Inverses" made that smile grim. "You should see the grocery bill. Sometimes I think we're the only ones keeping food places in business around here." She paused at another restaurant door with another sign. "But apparently, some places aren't very grateful for that. Stuck ups."

The trek through town was murder, so much food to be smelled and none to be eaten. Curses upon them all.

Her parents' home, though, seemed to be where it normally was, the front a magical store that sold Inverse-made talismans and enchanted weapons, god statues made of almost any conceivable metal. The business had been suffering when she left, but it looked like something had happened to change that, because the offerings in the window looked good.

The living quarters of the store were around back, with more inventory in the upstairs and the hall area that connected the business and the home. A peek in the window showed a customer talking to whichever Inverse was manning the counter. In the name of not losing her family a customer by upsetting things during a transaction, she grabbed Gourry's hand and led him around the far side, to where the family's front door was.

Nobody appeared to be outside, but the small stable that housed their horse- man, she was getting old -that pulled their cart into town when they went shopping was still where it was, and aforementioned old horse was the same one in the stable that Lina remembered. She let go of Gourry's hand to walk over to the stable.

"Hey, Cinnamon," she said, holding her hand out for the old horse to sniff. Once it looked like she was remembered, Lina put her hand on the horse's forehead, rubbing down the hair there before resting her own forehead there. She smiled, petting the hair around the horse's face lightly. "Little Lina's come home."

Cinnamon nickered, shaking her head before leaning her head forward to rest her chin on Lina's shoulder. She smiled, wrapping her arms around the horse's neck. "I missed you, too, troublemaker." She pulled back and wave Gourry over, who'd stayed back near the front door, leaving Lina to her reunion with the family horse.

At the invitation, Gourry walked over with long strides, not quite hurrying, but not exactly shuffling, either. "I didn't know you were related to a horse, Lina," he said.

She smacked his arm with the back of hers. "Don't be cute," she said. "This is Cinnamon. She's the horse we keep to help carry groceries home." Before he could say something dumb, she pointed to the cart. "She'd pull that, and Mom and one of us kids, usually Luna, would ride into town proper to pick up food for the pantry." She turned her attention back to Cinnamon, a wide smile on her face. She had no idea how happy she'd be to see her family- horse and all -before getting there. Even the idea of seeing Luna again was making her smile.

"She seems to have missed you, Lina."

Lina rubbed Cinnamon's forehead. "I missed her. I missed a lot of things here." She looked up at him. "Not that I'm ready to come back here and settle, But sometimes coming home isn't so bad. Luna shouldn't be angry at me anymore. I should visit more often." She looked at Cinnamon. "Is anybody home right now, Cinny?"

The horse's answer was a headshake and a pushy nuzzle against her hand.

"I don't have anything right now," she said. "I'll bring an apple later if Mom has any." She motioned towards the door. "Come on, Gourry, we'll see who's home."

Please let it be one of her parents who answers the door. You know, just in case her good mood is proven not to be a good one by an angry older sister.

She knocked on the front door that was more of a back door, with the shop up front, and stepped back and waited, counting the seconds. The longer it took, the more likely it was her mom or Luna. Her dad didn't know the meaning of the word 'sedate'. If there was a knock on the door, it was answered in a run.

"Coming!" her father's voice said from somewhere beyond the door, accompanied by quick, hard steps across wooden floors that Lina had a feeling had just been mopped and Dad had just tracked something on.

Oh Dad.

The door opened in a rush and her father, looking older than she remembered, but younger than his actual age, looked up at Gourry, before finally realizing there was another person there whose head only hit Gourry chest-high.

"Lina! Lina, baby, you've come home!" Her dad, a very large man that was built like he might've given Gourry a run for his money in his youth, yanked her up into a hug, picking her up off her feet. "Meg! Meg, our little girl's come home!" he called back into the house without letting Lina go.

"Dad, you're smothering me," she said, turning her head against his chest to unquish her face from him and maybe get some oxygen in her lungs.

Her father let her down, but kept a hand on her shoulder. "Dear!" he called back into the house. "Hurry, Lina's home and she's brought a boy home!"

Lina resisted the urge to facepalm. Her dad had been waiting for she and her sister to grow up and bring home potentials for years.

"I'm coming," her mom said from inside. "Don't be so impatient, unless she's dying."

"She's not, but I might be if you don't hurry up!"

Lina glanced up at Gourry. Gourry gave her a look entirely too amused for his safety and shook his head. No matter what, unless he was called on, he was staying out of things.

Probably for the better, but some bodyguard.

"You're melodramatic," her mother said, finally joining them at the door. Her normally stern expression softened into a smile like the sun had come back from stormy weather and pulled Lina into a hug. "Oh, we've missed you around here," she said. She- unlike Lina's father -was wise enough to know when to end a hug and do the introductions thing when someone new was around. "So, this must be your bodyguard that stories of the trouble you find include. Gourry, right?"

"That's right, ma'am," Gourry said. "Gourry Gabriev." He held out his hand.

Her mother took it first, just barely beating out her father's enthusiasm. "Meg Inverse. It's a pleasure to meet you."

While her father and Gourry made introductions to each other, Lina's mom looked at her. "So what trouble brings you here?" she asked, voice down to not talk over the men and interrupt Lina's father's good mood.

Lina shrugged. "Not really trouble. We need a favor from Luna, if she's not still out for my blood, and it was time to take him home to meet you guys."

Her mother took her arm and took her a few steps away from the men. Gourry looked at them, but when her mom waved her hand at the men, her dad took the hint and occupied Gourry with unbreaking conversation that was entirely one sided.

"How long?" her mother asked.

"How long what?" She hated it when her mother got vague like that. It was obvious which parent which daughter took after, and her mother was far more compatible with Luna than Lina.

"How far along are you? Do you need help?"

Lina turned about thirty shades of red that she could count just from the heat in her cheeks. "I'm not pregnant, Mom, for gods' sakes. I have a favor to ask of Luna and I wanted to introduce my fiance to you guys. I mean, if you hadn't wanted to meet him before we went to Seyruun to try to con a big wedding out of our friends, Prince Phil and his daughter, Amelia."

Her mother straightened, letting go of Lina's arm. "We know you're friends with the royal family, no need to brag," she said. She glanced over to where Lina's father still had Gourry trapped from coming to Lina's rescue. Then she smiled. "Fiance, hm? Good. One of my daughters had better marry and give me grandbabies before I turn sixty."

Goddamnit, there was that mention of babies again. "Mom, after this, we're hitting the road again," Lina protested. "We'll come home to settle eventually, but there's too much to see out there still!"

Her mother drew in a deep breath, looking vaguely disappointed, and put her hand on Lina's shoulder. "I'm holding you to that, dear. Come on, let's rescue your fiance from your father before he gnaws off his own leg to get away."

"Good to hear that Dad's the same as always."

"Other than finally bringing home a man, Lina, it doesn't sound like you've changed any, either," her mother said, then cleared her throat once they had rejoined the men. "Dear, that's enough. Let's let Lina introduce us to her fiance inside. Go see if Luna's still busy with customers, or if she can be spared."

"Fiance?" Her dad looked ready to bust into another rambling and enthusiastic monologue like the one that had kept Gourry busy. Fortunately for Lina's comfort and Gourry's sanity, her mother headed it off at the pass.

"Dear? Luna. Now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Gourry looked reluctant to enter the house, even upon invitation, and Lina had to grab his hand and drag him in. He reluctantly ducked under the door frame and politely closed the door behind him. "Is he- is he always like that?"

Lina's mother smiled. "Sometimes. Usually when I ask him to distract someone for me. I had a question for Lina that wasn't just yet your business."

Considering that if Lina _was_ pregnant, it would most certainly be Gourry's business, that almost didn't make sense, but her mother had an old-fashioned streak in her that the women discussed these things before talking to the men in the family who were not in the know. Which meant her father, mostly.

Her father returned, energy levels back down to something resembling normal, and stepped to the side, arms outswept to show off Lina and Gourry to Luna, who'd followed him from the store.

Lina ducked behind Gourry and only just peeked out from behind him. "I did what you said," she told her sister in surrender.

"The world's still here, so I noticed," Luna said. "You may live for now."

'For now' was ominous, but Luna also had their mother's dry sense of humor, so it was possible that the 'for now' was a joke meant to tweak Lina's nerves. She wasn't sure if she should assume that yet or not, but just to be safe, she decided to tiptoe until Luna explicitly stated that Lina had been forgiven for showing her off naked to half the boys in the city.

"Luna, don't be a stick in the mud," their father said. "Your baby sister's home! And she brought a fiance with her!"

"And a favor to ask, unless I heard the rumors wrong," Luna said, raising an eyebrow in Lina's direction.

"Uh, maybe a small one. But um. Yeah, also fiance." She shoved Gourry forward. "Luna, meet Gourry. Gourry, meet my older sister who ordered us to save the world."

Gourry flailed, steadied himself, then offered his hand to Luna. "Nice to meet you."

Luna smiled at him and shook his hand. "And to you, future Mister Inverse."

Gourry frowned. "Inverse-Gabriev. We're sharing names."

Luna looked around him at Lina. "You're sharing your name?"

Lina shrugged. Luna's question had been asked in a casual manner, with no sign of a threat for not maintaining the family name. "Well, we're kind of an undeclared business of Inverse-Gabriev Bandit Killers, so we may as well stick with it. Besides." She looked up at Gourry, her nerves relaxed enough since knocking on the door to give him more than a passing glance. "His name has a good legacy, too. I can't take that away from him."

Gourry opened his mouth, paused, then apparently decided on something else to say. Probably something _smarter_ to say. "I've got a few good Gabrievs behind me," he said. "We're all swordsmen and get into the kind of trouble Lina and I get into together."

"Sometimes with help," Luna said, flashing her sister a smile.

"I was trying to stay out of trouble that time," Lina said.

"You're an Inverse on the road, you had to be in trouble," her mother said. "Enough, you two. Charlie, be a dear and go close down the store for the day. Luna, will you please start dinner? I can hear Lina's stomach from here."

"That was actually mine this time, Missus Inverse," Gourry said, rubbing the back of his head. "Lina's is only sometimes louder than me. I'm bigger than her."

Her mother studied Gourry while her orders to the other two Inverses were followed. "Let me guess, you eat like Lina. Please say there's at least some manners with you?"

"Before I met her and she started stealing my food while I was eating, yes, ma'am."

Missus Inverse gave Lina a sharp look. "How many years did I waste teaching you manners?"

Lina toed the ground, an instinctive response to Mother Inverse scolding her. "I was doing okay on my own. Then the jellyfish brains over there joined and we both started stealing."

Gourry looked aghast. "I did not start that."

"You did too."

Lina's mother sighed, holding out her hands to separate the two. "Great dragon lords, there's two of them in existence. Lina, you found the right man. _But."_ Both Gourry and Lina went stone still at that firm emphasis. "In this house, you _will_ show manners, and there will be no stealing of food. You can play that game all you want in restaurants or wherever you are when you eat, but not here."

"Yes, ma'am," the engaged pair said in tandem.

Her mother smiled. "Ah, that's nice to hear. To be listened to by all sides. If you're that in synch already, you'll make a fine couple, and parents someday." She gave them both a look. "I want grandbabies. You don't get out of it."

Gourry, in contrast to Lina's vaguely uncomfortable reaction, gave her mother an easygoing shrug. "Someday, I guess," he said. "Lina and I will wanna settle down eventually. Right?" He looked at Lina.

Usually Lina loved the spotlight. Standing in her mother's living room, talking with her fiance about settling down and having children was not the spotlight she preferred.

But you know what? She was the Inverse heiress. Luna was always going to have to put her duty to the gods above something like a husband and children. Lina had that freedom, that put the duty of carrying on the Inverse name into the next generation on her, and the Inverse family was a damn fine family and one that was an honor to carry on.

Besides, she'd make a damn good mom someday and she knew it. "Yeah," she said, practically puffing up her chest. "Someday. There's still too much out there to see though. The outer world doesn't interest me, but I haven't seen everything of our world." She gave her mother a bright grin. "You know that was always my dream."

Her mother smiled. "It was, and you've made us mostly proud with it. Now come on, let's go sit at the table while your sister cooks. I'll send your father to help her."

Gourry looked between the two Inverse women. "Um, can we talk to Luna for a minute, actually? I have a favor to ask, and-"

"And you can't wait to get back on the road," the elder Inverse woman said. "I know. You can ask her after dinner. You'll need to stay the night somewhere before leaving again, and Lina's room is still up there. You'll stay here."

Gourry gave Lina a panicked look. Her mother had specified only one room for them. Which made room for Lina's question for her mother.

"Gourry, go help Dad and try not to sample everything. I wanna talk to Mom."

Gourry studied her a moment. "All right, Lina." If he didn't know exactly what Lina was going to be asking her mother, he had an even worse memory than Lina thought, and she couldn't be that wrong in her assessment after all these years.

"The table, dear," her mom said once Gourry had followed the early hints of the smell of food to the kitchen.

Lina headed into the dining room with her mother, just catching sight of Gourry's back as he reached the kitchen and started leaning over everyone's head to try to find a place to stick himself without stepping on Inverse toes. He knew better than that, even if he still did it. Because he was an idiot with tapioca for brains sometimes.

But he was _her_ tapioca brain, so she could put up with his bouts of stupidity.

"You came back for more than just introductions and a favor from Luna," her mother said once they were seated, folding her arms on the table and leaning forward expectantly.

Lina reclined back in her chair, putting a bit of thinking space between her and her mother. "Yeah. Did you and Dad ever hide your relationship when you were on the road?"

"Not particularly," her mother said. "Why, are you two?"

Lina took in a deep breath so she didn't sound too dejected when she answered "yeah. Our friends don't even know."

Her mother looked like she was desperate for a cup of tea to drink during this very Serious Talk. "Why not? You see them more, they should've found out before us."

Lina shook her head. "Because we keep finding trouble. Big, save the world sort of trouble. And it's kinda my fault. Too many creatures from the evil race know about some of the spells I can do, and even if they didn't, they flock to me like seagulls to the ocean anyway. Then there's the mundane idiots who want a name for themselves."

"That's the Inverse curse," her mother said. "Your father and I had similar problems. Between his swordsmanship and my magic, everyone wanted to say they took out the Inverses. We became boring once we went into retirement."

Lina snorted. "I don't think Gourry and I will get that freedom."

"I hope you do someday, sweetheart," her mother said. "We planned on leaving the store to you."

Her original direction in the conversation derailed. "Me? Why me? Luna doesn't go anywhere."

"She also can't make magical talismans like you. She doesn't have the same knack for magic that you do, and someday, she's going to be called to her duty, and the home's going to fall to you. Now, if you don't want it, you can sell it, but since you've mentioned wanting to settle someday, it's here for you, ready to go."

Lina stared down at the table. "Well, yeah, we wanted to someday." She glanced up at her mother. "Just don't make someday any day soon, okay? You and Dad stay healthy."

Her mother laughed. "Oh, Lina, we're a long way from putting a foot in the grave. Just remember who taught you your tricks. Your father and I handled ourselves on the road just fine, we don't need you girls to treat us like we're old when we're not." She reached out and patted Lina's hand. "It's so good to see you, dear. Now, you had a problem you were addressing?"

Lina took a second to get her thoughts back on track and rubbed her forehead. "We're already liabilities to each other," she said. "That's already been used against us, and we weren't even involved yet. If we go around as a married couple, that's going to just invite trouble. Someone will go after one or the other of us to get to the other. I can't risk him. I almost lost him once, and it almost ended very badly."

Her mother rested her chin on the back of her laced fingers. "If the rumors we've heard about you two are true, most people already think you're a married couple, or otherwise involved." She tilted her head forward. "Instead of worrying about something that might happen anyway, be honest about yourselves. Especially to your friends. How hurt are they going to be that you've been lying to them all this time?"

Her mother had a point. A lot of points. Lina'd heard those rumors and both she and Gourry had been quick to try to dispel them when they came up, but really, what was the point? It was already assumed, anyone else wanting to cause trouble out there the way Phibirizzo had wouldn't have to know for certain or not anyway. So why hide? Lina and Gourry's own paranoid natures- especially Lina's, if she were honest -were just getting in the way of things. She felt like they'd just been being silly instead of actually thinking.

She just hadn't been able to see anything but Gourry getting hurt because of her to be able to be honest.

She sighed. "I know," she said. "It's just been done once already, we didn't feel we should poke the hornet's nest."

"If whatever was done already has you this scared, it must've been bad," her mother said. "Tell me about it?"

Lina fidgeted in her seat. "I'm not sure I want to talk about it right now, Mom."

Her mother's eyebrow raised."That bad? Which Evil Race lord got to you?"

"How'd you know it had to do with them?"

"Anything bad enough to scare you like this had to involve someone that high. And while there aren't any rumors about whatever this event was that I've heard, I'm going to go with the Hellmaster. The border of the Desert of Destruction went down a bit over a year ago, so someone took him out, and I don't know anyone strong enough to do it but you."

Lina stared down at the table, hands in her lap, trying to keep her hands still. That whole mess still was a jumble in her head. It didn't stop her from enjoying time on the road, or from being willing to take on big bads, but it made her scared of losing Gourry and that was something that she couldn't stand going through again.

"Yeah, it was him," she finally answered her mother.

"Lina?" Her mother waited until Lina was looking up at her before continuing. "I'm going to give you some important advice. If you two haven't talked about this beyond whatever paranoias it left you two with, you need to change that. And more importantly, if it's already happened, then don't worry more than you need to. It can obviously happen, regardless of if you're public or not. So enjoy each other's company without tip-toeing around in the dark. Just do me a favor?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sure the royal family of Seyruun is going to want to give you a big royal wedding, and we won't be able to attend. So exchange your rings here. Let us get to see your first wedding."

A wedding. Not the big production where she stood in the spotlight like she wanted, and which she'd get, just as certain about that as her mother was, but something nice and quiet and with family. To come home to introduce her fiance and leave a married woman.

A married woman. That was a phrase she hadn't thought would actually apply to her any day soon for years. She was too young, too star struck, too busy. But she was eighteen now, and had a fiance and her mother wanted to see her get married. She knew her father would want to, and Luna would probably destroy her if she didn't do something to celebrate with her.

Well, she was an adult, and her mother was right, she and Gourry were both being too much on the paranoid side, and while her mother hadn't needed the details to guess, she'd pointed out that their paranoia was simply a reaction to the mess Phibrizzo had made.

Well, screw you, Phibrizzo, you're not keeping this girl from getting what she wanted.

Thanks, Mother Inverse, for the kick in the pants she needed.

Lina rubbed the back of her neck. "We don't actually have rings to exchange, Mom," she said, going back to the subject at hand. "We haven't really looked, but we hadn't planned on exchanging anything before leaving here."

"Then you'll exchange your father's and my rings. That's what we had planned for you when you were a little girl. These rings were going to go to you and your future husband, so I won't hear any protests from you."

Her mother still knew her. Lina had been about to protest. She'd already thought her parents would do that, but she couldn't just say 'okay! gimme', not with her parents. Anyone else, sure. Anyone else stupid enough to offer her something that valuable got what they deserved. But her parents were offering part of her inheritance to her, in exchange for getting to see her and Gourry wearing them as a married couple.

The idea actually sat well with Lina.

All four Inverses impressed Gourry at how much they could all pack away, but Lina had to struggle to not steal Gourry's food, and had to knock his hand away a couple times to keep him from stealing hers. Their games weren't appreciated in that household, Lina wasn't about to make her mother mad.

An angry Missus Inverse was almost scarier than an angry Luna Inverse. Lina knew when to behave.

Since Luna and the men cooked, Lina and her mother cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen. Luna left, saying she had work to do, but Lina wasn't able to ask about it before a soapy wet wash rag had been shoved into her hand with an order to 'wash that pot.'

"You know, you should probably let me rescue Gourry from Dad for awhile today," Lina said as she scrubbed down a skillet.

"You'll get a chance," her mother said. "I'm taking off with your father to discuss our rings. You and Gourry can go to bed." She didn't even pause in rinsing a pot out when she said, "I saw that panic on his face. Does this mean you two haven't shared a bed and aren't ready, or that you have and you didn't want me to know?"

"We're used to hiding," Lina said, feeling a bit more open than she had earlier before her mother talked her down from her fears. "Besides, would _you_ wanna go to your fiance's parents' home and be told you get to share a bedroom without any questions getting asked first?"

Her mother smiled in amusement. "No, I suppose I wouldn't. Well, your bed's big enough, I think, so you'll be comfortable." She held her hand out. "Give me the wash rag and send your father in to help me finish. I need to talk to him about your inheritance and I think you and Gourry need some time alone"

Lina happily handed the rag to her mother. "Dad'll be right in," she said with a chipper shine, and headed out to the living room. "Dad, Mom wants you to help finish with dishes."

From the look on his face, she guessed that he'd finally settled down for some real conversation with Gourry and now looked aghast that he had to leave it cut off. "I helped make dinner though."

Lina leaned against the side of his chair. "Go tell that to her," she said. "I just pass along messages."

"I don't buy that'," her father said. "Not unless she bribed you with something."

"Yeah, a chance to go to bed. You people are tiring. Mom said go help."

Her father gave her an aggrieved look, but got up, wished the two of them goodnight, then headed for the kitchen.

Gourry looked ready to melt into a puddle of relief. "Your dad is something else, Lina."

She smiled, watching him. "He's a handful," she agreed, then walked over to his chair and held out her hand. "Come on, let's go to bed. Mom gave me some stuff to talk about."

The smile Gourry gave her when he took her hand and stood up was so full of warm and gentle love that she wanted to keep it there forever, just for her, something safe to curl up with at night, something to carry like a shining jewel during the day, something that nobody got but her.

The stairwell up to where Lina and Luna's respective bedrooms were was too narrow for them to walk up together, but that didn't stop them from reattaching themselves to each other once they were in the hall and heading down to Lina's room, the last one on the left. On the opposite side of the house from her parents' bedroom.

Which meant she didn't feel at all guilty or worried when Gourry pressed her tightly up against the door as soon as it was closed, kissing her to take her breath away. She didn't feel guilty at all as she wrapped her arms around his neck, parting her lips against Gourry's, welcoming in the intimacy that they'd barely had the closer they got to Lina's home.

Now that they were there, Lina wondered why she'd been too nervous for this.

They parted, breathing heavily, Lina turning her head to press against his neck, heady from the scent of him, so close to her, the taste of his skin against her lips. "Talk first," she whispered, so close to his ear that she barely had to put any force behind the words.

He leaned back, looking at her, and she flushed, exaggerated the way her chest heaved with each labored breath, made herself look as appealing and wanting as she could. She didn't want Gourry to think that a talk meant there would be no intimacy that night. She needed it too much, need the touches, the closeness, the wave and crash of pleasure.

But talk first.

They stripped out of the extras of their clothes, Gourry's armor and sword, Lina's cape about half of her outfit. Boots and socks were shed. All that was left was shirts and pants and undergarments. Those were usually the hardest to squirm out of, but there really wasn't any helping that.

Gourry sat down on the edge of the bed, looking up at her. "Talk?"

She didn't reply until she'd braced one knee on the bed to half-stradle his lap. She pressed her forehead against his, hands petting the soft hair just behind his ears. "Talk."

"You're not acting like you're talking," he said, turning his head against one of her hands.

"I know," she said, then bent down, wrapping her arms around him, face pressed against his neck. "In a second."

His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly, but pushing for nothing more. She knew him, knew him well enough to know that he'd know when to play and when to wait patiently and just hold her in the meantime. And she needed to be held, just for a little bit longer.

Her mother's points about her excessive worry had done nothing more than what Lina needed them to. They put up a mirror to her fears and showed that they were gone, behind her, and silly to continue to focus on when on the other side of the mirror was a future that Lina had been planning for since she was a child, a future she'd ached for from the first time Gourry kissed her.

Finally, that processed in his presence, in the safety of his arms, she drew back and kissed him, once, gentle, a signal that she was ready to talk.

"Did your mom say something that upset you?" he asked. She hadn't been left alone with any Inverse but her mother that day, there was no way he could've missed that.

"That we're being dumb," she said with a lopsided smile. "She said that hiding is a waste of time because everybody already thinks it."

"I think I've said that before, Lina," Gourry said with a most pointed tone.

"I know," she said. "And all I had to do was say 'Phibrizzo' and we both automatically wanted to hide each other from the world."

Gourry pressed his head against her chest, holding onto her like someone might rip her away. He was being as silly as she'd been, but she understood. "Did you tell her about that?"

"Not in detail," Lina said, petting Gourry's hair and resting her chin on the top of his head. "Just that it'd already happened, someone using one of us to get to the other. She guessed at which of the lords it was."

"What'd she say?"

Lina smiled and pulled back, enough to put her hand under Gourry's chin and lift his head to look at her. "Then why are we not just enjoying ourselves? We're always at risk of it, nobody believes we're not a couple, we may as well be happy." She kissed his forehead. "And we've both said that we hate hiding. We'd be happier not doing it."

"We sound like we were both being dumb when it's put that way."

She gave him a dirty look. "I was not being dumb. I was being scared, there's a difference."

"And being scared made us do a dumb thing," Gourry said, apparently wanting to die that night instead of share a bed with his fiance.

"You know, Jellyfish, nobody says you _have_ to get sex at all for the next however long it takes before I stop being angry that you called me dumb."

That seemed to scare him more than the threat of bodily harm. Obviously he'd grown too used to smacks to the back of the head and hair yanking and kicks to the shins.

Of course, the punishment she just presented was a punishment for her, too, so she wasn't likely to ever use it again.

"Okay, not dumb, not dumb!" he said quickly. Once she'd relaxed her body language, he picked up the cue to ask more that she knew he was itching to ask about. "Did she say anything else?"

"We're not allowed to leave until we exchange rings and can leave a married couple," she said. "Mom says they wouldn't be able to make it to whatever big party Amelia throws us, so they want to see us here. She's already promised hers and Dad's rings to us."

There was that smile again, sunshine and warmth and birds singing and happy things that only a person silly with love would see and crave and want. "I'm okay with that," he said. "We have to wait a day anyway. Luna's going to get me a sword."

He sounded so goofy with excitement about that that Lina wanted to laugh. "Did she say how?"

Gourry frowned, that look in his eye that said there was a hamster running the wheel at full tilt in his head. "Uh, I think she said she's just buying a regular sword, but she was going to do something to it. I guess it has to do with her job, something special she can do to it."

Lina wanted to know more, but knew she wouldn't get anything out of Gourry's bad memory and poor understanding of magic, so she let it go. "So. Sword. Rings. Marriage."

"Kinda what we came here for, huh?"

She kissed him instead of answering just yet, running her tongue along his lips until he parted them for her. She nibbled his lower lip before breaking away. Just a little. "What we came for. Now're you going to help me out of the rest of these clothes, or are we going to talk all night?"

He answered that question very quickly.

"You know how to do this, right, baby girl?" Lina's father asked, putting his wedding ring in Lina's open hand. He sounded more nervous than Lina felt.

"Dad, pretty sure putting a ring on someone's finger isn't hard," she said. "You're sure this'll fit him?"

"No, not really," her father said. "We've both got big hands, but that doesn't mean much about ring size. Your mom's might not fit you. You'll have to fake it until you can take them somewhere to be resized. In the meantime, we got necklace chains you can wear them on."

Lina glanced back out of the kitchen towards the dining room. Her family was being silly, trying to have a little ritual just there in the house, with Luna acting as an officiant, being an official representative of Ceiphied. That seemed inappropriate, given the nature of Lina's favorite spell, but most clergy were dedicated to the dragon gods anyway, and Luna was family. And she was using Gourry's new sword to bless the marriage. So it was two purposed.

"Why don't we do that anyway?" she asked, turning back to her father. She wasn't going to brag to him that she'd already thought of that. He sounded like an Inverse who wanted an idea to be his, and Inverse men were easier to handle when they were allowed to think that. Her father got told off on the matter just enough to keep him humble, but not enough to not give him some pride.

"Go get those chains, give one to Mom and Gourry, give me one, we'll just exchange the rings that way. Better than trying to make them fit if they don't."

"Mm. Probably more comfortable, too," her father agreed. "Stay here, and no peeking out of this room anymore. I know you're getting married twice, but we only get to see it once, you get to play by our rules."

With an exasperated smile, Lina stayed where she was while her father ran off to get necklace chains, presumably from the store. His wedding ring sat heavy in her hand, and she clenched her fingers tighter around it. She'd be giving that to Gourry in a few minutes, a thought that made her heart skip a beat and nerves to gather in her stomach.

For crying out loud, Lina. Eighteen, not fifteen. Grown woman, not wet-behind-the-ears teenager. Established relationship, not some stranger. Relax.

Despite her agreement to not look out of the room, she did glance out when her father passed by to the living room, where her mother and Gourry were. Luna was busy moving the dining room table to the edge of the room, clearing up the center for the Inverse family ceremony. Lina was sure if she was surprised or not that Luna was in her full knight's armor for this. Luna took her duties seriously, and she was blessing her sister's marriage as a representative of her god.

But, nobody would argue that Luna wasn't an Inverse, too. Their family was all about the show. Poor Gourry. Lina would wonder if he understood the craziness he was getting into, but he found that out a long time ago, and had survived so far. There wasn't much her parents could do to scare him off after years of dealing with Lina. Luna might put the fear of the gods into him if he ever hurt Lina, and he might just be able to take that with grace.

Her father returned, handing over a gold chain to match the gold wedding band in her hand. "There you go, baby. You mother and I agreed, you're going to be putting these chains on each other, so I hope you can reach him and still get that thing clasped."

"I can," she said. "I'm used to dealing with how stupidly tall he is. I'm more worried about his hair." Actually, that was a valid concern, thinking about it.

"Try working the clasp in front," her father said. "Then slide it around to the back of his neck. Make it easier for you both."

"Good idea," she agreed. Then she took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, tying those stupid butterflies in her stomach into knots so they couldn't flutter about. "Are we ready?"

"Think so." He seemed more nervous than she felt. He gave her a smile, shaky and wet-eyed. "Sorry I can't be there to walk you to the big altar, but I can walk my little girl to the altar here at home."

Instead of saying something pointless like 'don't cry' or any accusation of being too nervous, she just hugged him. "This is better," she said. The party was nice, and she liked the idea of a big one, but the real thing was just as good at home in her family's dining room with just her parents and sister there to watch her transition from someone's fiance into someone's wife.

Her parents and sister deserved to see that before anyone else.

Through the doorway, Luna stepped into the middle of the dining room, a broadsword with a white hilt that had intricate designs of dragons and vines entangled in the dance of life in her hand.

The blade looked solid, good quality, and while Lina would normally look at a sword like that and shake her head at the idea of it outlasting Gourry, she knew that it'd been blessed by a god at the behest of that god's knight and representative. That sword would be as faithful to Gourry as the Sword of Light had been.

Good. Their wedding was a good time for him to be given that.

"Escort the ones who take these vows in," she said, and Lina had never heard Luna use that tone before. She wondered if that was even her sister speaking anymore.

Bull. Ceiphied wouldn't personally attend the wedding of a sorceress who regularly called on Ruby-Eye for her spells. Lina was imagining things.

Regardless of who had just said that, Luna or Ceiphied, it was a command that nobody disobeyed, Lina escorted in by her father and Gourry accompanied by her mother on his arm. Gourry showed no sign of nerves. These were old vows he was taking, a vow he'd already spoken, back when she was still a teenager not appreciating the overprotective bodyguard routine.

She was glad she kept him around.

Lina and Gourry were silently directed to stand across from each other, both facing Luna.

As much as Lina wanted to take in the design of Luna's armor, something she'd never seen before, or the sword closer up, or notice the feeling of her father's wedding ring in her palm, something in her pulled her attention to Luna's words, to hang on them, to hear them and obey them.

Maybe Ceiphied really was taking a hand in things.

"Do you come to make these vows freely?" Luna asked.

"We do," she and Gourry said, not needing instruction on when and how to answer.

"Face each other and exchange your rings."

For all that Lina wanted to note that as Luna's attitude, quick and to the point, she still couldn't shake the distant feeling that Luna was not the one conducting this private ceremony. The heavy feeling of a god, the magic and energy one produced hung heavy over the room.

She felt like she was in a trance, directed to put her focus on Luna's words, put her focus was on slipping the chain with her father's wedding ring around Gourry's neck. He had to bend down a bit for her to reach, but her fingers stayed steady for her as she worked the clasp closed, then slid the chain around to put the clasp at the back of his neck. "This ring is my vow that you are my husband," she said, the words whispered in her ear before she said them.

She lifted her hair up out of the way for Gourry to put the necklace they'd made of her mother's wedding ring around her neck, getting up on tip toes to make it easier for him.

Lina was convinced about a god's interference when Gourry repeated her vow back to her without a stutter or a moment of uncertainty at the wording. He wasn't a sorcerer, magic words and rituals befuddled him, and he worked better when he had a script to memorize for awhile rather than running on improv.

But there'd been no script to follow, just the words that she'd felt instructed to say. Lina didn't care. Maybe they weren't her words. Maybe those weren't Gourry's words. The vow behind them was what counted and Lina couldn't wait to hear Luna say the words to seal that vow with a kiss.

It was her parents and sister, nothing special, but the chance to kiss Gourry where others could see, to not be hiding, she wanted that. She wanted that, she wanted to seal that vow, she wanted to be able to say she was Missus Inverse-Gabriev and Gourry's wife and damn it all, Ceiphied, where are those words?

Instead of hearing those words, Luna held the sword out between them. "Your vows are heard by me on behalf of my knight."

Ceiphied. No higher blessing could be given to their marriage, and while Lina had only once worked with the dragon gods, never could count herself among Ceiphied's followers, the Inverse family had always fought against the enemies of the dragon gods, and Luna represented the highest of them. This was a special favor, one few if any received. Lina felt steady on her feet only by divine decree. If it'd been just her, she might've been inching away out of sight.

"Gourry, this sword is yours. Her, you protect, and with this, you will do it. Your vows were heard long ago."

Gourry waited, keeping an even gaze on Luna's face. Lina half-expected him to say something, prompted by the energy hanging around them, but he didn't, simply used that interminable patience he frequently had to use to keep up with her.

"This sword becomes your tool to protect the woman you take as your wife. Stay true to her and the sword will stay true to you. Repeat your vow."

Gourry held out his hand for it. "I'll protect her," he said.

Luna gave him the sword and he sheathed it, almost unconcerned with it compared to how focused he was on Lina. Once the sword was safe from hurting someone by accident, his gaze had returned to her, captured her, held her, and despite the presence of a god, Lina found herself getting impatient. She'd been waiting forever it seemed like to get to hear the words-

"You are now married. Seal your vows."

Lina was in Gourry's arms before the words were even fully out of Luna's mouth, arms wrapped up around Gourry's neck and lips pressed against his like a drowning woman breathing air for the first time.

All sense of the magic in the air was gone when they parted to the applause of her parents and even her sister. "Congratulations, Mister and Missus Inverse-Gabriev," Luna said. "You might make the next town by sundown if you hurry."

"Wanna get rid of me already?" she said, tucking her new wedding ring down her shirt to keep it safe and hidden.

"More like trying to prevent you from getting cabin fever," Luna said. "You get insufferable when you get itchy feet."

"If you hadn't just given us the coolest sword and wedding ritual I've seen in awhile, I might be insulted."

Luna shrugged. "I only asked a favor. Inverses deserve the best."

Before she could wonder if it'd be welcome, she'd hugged her sister. "Thank you," she said. "And pass along those thanks. I don't talk to that side much, that was pretty awesome."

"She heard you just fine," Luna said, returning the hug briefly before shoving her at their mother.

Her mother pulled their packs out from in the living room and handed them over. "I'd ask you to stay another night, but Luna's right about your itchy feet. Besides, you kids deserve a better wedding night than to be in your parents' home."

Despite the fact that she and Gourry had learned to be so quiet that nobody had noticed them last night to her knowledge, her mother's words made her flush hot. She tucked her bag into one of her cape's pockets, hugged her parents one at a time, and gave Luna a thumbs up. "Thanks again, Sis." Then she looked at Gourry, his pack on his shoulder. "Ready?"

He took her hand. "Any time you are, little missy."

She stepped on his foot and stormed out the door.

"Lina, wait!" She pretended to have less patience than she really had as she waited outside for Gourry to catch up. "I'm sorry, I was just joking!"

"Find better jokes."

He took her hand. "Help me look for them? I'm pretty bad with them."

His hand was warm around hers and she twisted her wrist to hold his hand. "You are. Come on, there's a town just up the road. Maybe their restaurants won't turn away the good money of an Inverse."

"Inverse-Gabriev."

That made her grin so hard her face hurt. "Bet their fine print doesn't account for that." She waved to her family behind them, and headed down the road with her husband, a new sword for him, and wedding rings on necklace chains just under their shirt collars.


End file.
